Path to Adulthood
by kryliadarr
Summary: Mix the drama and manga together, change the timeline and, add some romance (Yamaguchi Kumiko x Odigara Ryu). Changes outlined inside. Rated T for language and mild sexuality. Rating may change in the future.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Gokusen.

For the sake of argument, I have pretended that Yankumi (and others) can actually fight instead of pushing people to the ground and having them stay down with the force of her lectures.

I've used some dialogue from the drama, and the odd line from the manga. The drama lines were included to help you track the progression of the story. The story diverges more as it progresses. The beginning follows the drama quite closely.

Changes:

I worked primarily with the drama, but have changed the timeline so that at the end of season 1, the school shuts down and she is out of a job for 9 months before the beginning of season 2 (which would make her 24 years old), and another 9 months (after being fired) before the beginning of season 3 (which makes her 25 for the beginning of our story). Having her involved with a student 8 years younger than her felt a little cougarish, so I needed to modify that (the best I could really do was a 6 year difference). Also, there is no major character development for Yankumi in the 3 year gaps the drama presents, so I don't feel that shortening the timeline has any major impact, although instead of Kuma having a baby, please read it as him getting engaged.

I have chosen to use the brother/sister relationship between Yankumi, Tetsu and Minoru from the manga (explained in Vol. 2, Chap. 6) since I feel that this is a major factor for Yankumi's dedication to her delinquent students.

The story is set during season 3 (except that she doesn't have a crush on Natsume, because I seriously can't handle the ditziness) with some modifications.

I've gone with the manga in that the man she marries will be the family successor, as opposed to having her completely uninvolved with the yakuza.

I've included the character Kyo-san from the manga (Vol. 3, Chap. 1).

I've decided that Kuma meets Yankumi's new students earlier than in the drama (season 3).

Why I chose Ryu:

I feel that Yankumi can only seriously date a former student since she needs someone who'll forgive her for (always) ditching their dates for a pile of high school delinquents. The only guys I think would be able to completely accept that are the ones who have already been there.

In the manga, a strong codependent bond was developed between Yankumi and Sawada. He goes to her when there is trouble, and she goes to him for information. This negates the teacher/student aspect. Within a couple of episodes in season 2, Odagiri is balancing Yankumi.

Sawada Shin (manga edition) serves as a level head for Yankumi. In the drama, most of the class leaders are hotheads. Odagiri is the only one who (mostly) keeps a level head for himself and for her.

Although the movie won't be in my timeline, I liked how they developed Odagiri in it. He baits her while simultaneously balancing her wilder moments. He is also able to predict her movements, instead of always running behind her (literally).

Yankumi risks her family by taking Odagiri in (which is extreme even for her).

Odagiri virtually never calls her Yankumi, but Yamaguchi, which could imply that he does not see her the way the rest of the class does.

* * *

There was a man at the school gate.

In and of itself, this was nothing unusual. But he was waiting for Yamaguchi Kumiko, and that was unusual. Beautiful young men were not often waiting for her, unless they were in some sort of trouble. Since there was no obvious crisis – no visible injuries, no one chasing him, no one he was chasing, no partially collapsed building - the situation was almost surreal. He had straight red hair, and a paper held loosely in one hand. He was leaning against the wall, gazing from the paper in his hand to the gate and back again. Students looked at him as they headed home, but left him to himself.

A woman with pig tails came charging out without glancing in either direction. Eyebrows lifting, he fell into step with her.

"Yo."

She jumped, noticing him for the first time.

"Baka (Idiot)." He murmured, looking away to hide his smile.

"Odagiri! What are you doing here?"

It was hard to pretend that he was just passing by when he had been waiting at the gate. Hell, he hadn't seen her recently, so there was no reason for her to assume that he knew where she was teaching. Without turning back to her, he passed her the paper in his hands.

"What is this?" She asked, immediately distracted, as he had known she would be. He watched her scan it, waiting for the reaction. "Hitotsubashi! Law! You're studying law at Hitotsubashi University?!"

"Maa na (Well, yeah)." He shrugged, blushing.

"Omedetou (Congratulations)!" She reached out to ruffle his hair in celebration, but he stepped out of reach. She was so embarrassing!

"What's that?" He asked, jerking his chin at the paper in her hand.

"Ah." She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before answering. "One of my students has been suspended for a crime he didn't commit. This is the real culprit."

He glanced over. He certainly understood how that felt. "I can pass the description around. If you're looking for him, we can help."

Her smile lit up again. "That would be great! I need to be going. I'll see you around." Count on Yamaguchi to not notice that he had been waiting for her, or that he had known where to find her. How did the woman survive being this oblivious?

"Maa na." He glanced away, disappointed, but his shoulders relaxed slightly when she added:

"We'll celebrate for sure once I find the culprit."

* * *

This is my fist Gokusen fanfic, so let me know what you think! I have a fair bit written, but will only finish the story if people are reading.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, did you confess?" Hayato asked.

Ryu stared at his best friend and considered hitting him, but figured it was more effort than it was worth.

The reaction was immediate and predicable. "Confess!" His friends leapt in. "Wait Ryu likes someone?! Who is she? Is she cute? Does she have a nice body?" The questions come flooding in from Tsuchi and Hyuuga. Take was watching him carefully. Ryu became slightly more tempted to hit Hayato as the questions showed no signs of ending.

"Urusai (Shut up)." He interrupted. When the hell had Hayato noticed anyway? There really was no good way to lead into this, but he'd promised. "Yamaguchi is looking for this person." He passed the flyer across for the others to take a look at.

They all peered at it. "Haven't seen him." Hayato looked away. "You saw Yamaguchi?" Hayato and the others had been dropping in on her nearly daily since graduation, but as soon as Ryu had decided to take the entrance exam for Hitotsubashi, he had stopped coming. He had needed to focus. Now that he had his acceptance letter, he could go back to spending more time with her. He knew that none of them were comfortable with the fact that she had lost her job covering for them. They were all looking for a way to help her in return. Up until now she hadn't needed their help.

"I ran into her earlier." Ryu kept his head down.

"So who's this?"

"Her student has been accused of theft and she believes this guy is the culprit."

"Ah." They all nodded their understanding. Hayato grimaced, and Ryu figured that had brought up the same memories as it had for him. "So she's pissed." Take summarized the situation.

"Hai (Yes)." Ryu tried to keep his frustration to himself, but saw Hayato rub his mouth and knew his friend was hiding a smile. Ryu frowned slightly in response.

"We could make copies and pass this along to the other guys." Hyuuga commented. Ryu just nodded. He had been planning on doing exactly that.

"What's this?" Take noticed the other paper he was holding. Ryu held it out. "Hitotsubashi! You got into Hitotsubashi University?!" Ryu shrugged and didn't meet anyone's eyes. Was this his day for embarrassing moments?

"Urusai." He muttered again.

"WHAT?!" And that was Tsuchi making far too much noise for Kumai-san's little restaurant. Kumai-san's head whipped up, and he headed over for their table while Tsuchi continued. "Hitotsubashi! Is that why you've been ditching us?!"

"What's up?" Kumai-san asked. Take showed Kumai-san both papers. Kumai-san was super impressed with Ryu's acceptance letter and offered to put all their bowls on the house. He also agreed to keep an eye out for the guy Yamaguchi was looking for. Ryu shook his head. Kumai-san was being as generous as always. When he headed off to deal with a customer, the conversation continued.

"Since when have you been interested in law?" Hayato asked, watching him intently.

"There are these ahou (idiots) I know…"Ryu met their eyes, smiling slightly, "who are always getting into trouble."

"Who are you calling ahou?" Hyuuga protested, punching him in the arm.

"Well, I thought it might be a good way to protect them." Ryu shrugged, further embarrassed. "And other baka like them."

There was a beat of silence and then. "So, do we celebrate or go looking for this guy?" Tsuchi asked.

"I promised Yamaguchi that I'd at least show the picture to everyone." And if her student really was innocent, that kind of pissed him off.

"We can help." Hayato commented. "Are her students helping?"

"I don't think so. She was on her own when I saw her." Ryu replied. He didn't mention that he intended to celebrate with her as soon as this was cleared up. Or that yes, he had intended to confess today.


	3. Chapter 3

It was after one when Ryu got back to his apartment. Hayato had decided he was going to stay over. Ryu wasn't really clear on when that had been decided, but his friends had been staying over from time to time since he was living on his own. They said it was the only way they got to see him now that everyone was busy, but he figured that they were just checking up on him. It was a little annoying, but sometimes living alone was too quiet, so he didn't protest that much.

"So she was too busy to listen to your confession?" Hayato asked.

Did they really need to have this conversation now? He was tired. He'd shored up all his courage to confess to Yamaguchi, and had instead spent the entire evening trying to prove the innocence of a guy he'd never met. The day hadn't gone quite the way he had intended, but somehow that was always the case where Yamaguchi was involved. The thought brought a smile to his lips.

"It'll be hard to get her to take you seriously," Hayato added as he flopped down on the couch. "Dating a former student… she's not conventional, but even for her that'll be pushing things, I think."

Alright, so they were going to have the conversation. Ryu sighed. "When did you realize?"

Hayato laughed, stretching out. "How long have we been friends?" He replied. "You were fascinated with her from the beginning. When she sheltered you in her house, wasn't that when you finally realized how you felt?"

Ryu stared. When _the hell_ had Hayato gotten this observant?

"I don't think anyone else has realized it," Hayato said. Then paused and added, "Take might have: he knows you well." Thinking of the way Take had watched him when Hayato was asking about the confession, Ryu suspected Hayato was right.

"I don't think that I'm the only one who has fallen for her," Ryu replied, levelling a look at his friend. Hayato blushed slightly.

"You're right," he said with a sad laugh, "but you're better for her."

Ryu was shocked. That didn't sound like Hayato at all. "How so?"

"You keep her out of trouble. I always get her into it. It's my fault that she was fired…" Hayato sat back up and braced his arms on his knees.

"Hayato…" Ryu whispered, seeing for the first time how heavy that burden was for his friend.

"You didn't want to go," Hayato continued, staring at his hands, as if he hadn't heard Ryu at all. "You knew we couldn't talk Goda out of hurting them and you didn't want to betray her. I convinced myself that things would be ok. I was wrong and she paid for it. I was wrong…" A tear slid down Hayato's cheek. Hayato took a shuddering breath before looking back at Ryu. "She needs you."

"I think that's up to her to decide." Ryu said, gently taking a seat on the couch. Hayato was shaking his head determinedly.

"She needs you." Ryu knew that the only person who could convince Hayato of anything when he got like this was Yamaguchi. Somehow convincing her to encourage a former student to pursue her didn't seem viable.

"Is this why you haven't made a move? We're both responsible for what happened to her. It's not your fault alone, Hayato."

"I can't protect her in a fight, I can't keep her out of trouble, I can't do anything at all for her!" Hayato's voice rose in frustration. Ryu winced, worried Hayato had just woken his neighbours.

"What do you want to do for her?" Ryu asked.

"I want to protect her. I want to make her happy."

"Then why don't you try? We can't fix the past, Hayato. She _was_ fired, and it was our fault, no matter what she says. The director was playing dirty. Threatening to expel the whole class was too much. There are a lot of things we can't do, but I intend to protect her and the people she loves. Are you going to let her slip through your fingers just because it's TOO DAMN HARD?!" This time Ryu was the one shouting.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!" Hayato roared back.

"Fight FOR her!" Ryu snarled. One o'clock in the morning was not the time to be having a discussion at this volume when his walls were thin, but his neighbours could hate him for all he cared. Getting through to Hayato was more important. "I'm not expecting it to be easy." Ryu continued more quietly. "It's just that things would be too boring without her. She makes everything interesting. Don't you agree? Isn't that why almost a year later neither of us can move on?"

Hayato snorted, and began to smile. "Do you really want competition that badly? If you're determined to loose…" Hayato wiped the tears from his face and Ryu felt himself relax.

"Who's going to loose?" Ryu quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

"Well, a tsundere like you isn't real competition anyways." Ryu grimaced. The fact that he couldn't resist baiting her despite being totally mad about her – or perhaps because he of it – _was_ going to be a problem in winning her heart. They sat in silence for a couple minutes collecting themselves before Hayato chuckled. "Well, for someone who's not very hotheaded himself, you really like to involve yourself with troublesome people."

"I assume you're talking about yourself," Ryu shot back, ruffled.

Hayato laughed again. "Hai. But I'm talking about Yamaguchi as well. It's not her fault, but she's always into something. And I think she's more hotheaded than I am." Ryu snorted quietly. Hayato was right. There was no one more hotheaded than Yamaguchi. "So how were you intending to approach her?"

"I was just going to tell her." Ryu shrugged awkwardly.

"Ah." Hayato murmured. "A punch to the gut." Ryu scowled at the description. "Well," he continued, "she's pretty oblivious so she won't notice anything less." Ryu sighed. Wasn't that the truth? "How much of becoming a lawyer is for her?" Hayato was watching him closely.

Ryu frowned. "I'll be able to protect other guys like us as a lawyer." He replied carefully. "But I'll also be in a position to help protect her family." He shrugged. Her family was clearly important to her. It would be a lot easier on her if she cut ties with them, but hiding it from the school and commuting showed that she wasn't willing to abandon them. He could respect that. They had taken her in when her parents had died and clearly loved her. Hell, they had taken _him_ in when he had nowhere to go. He owed them.

"Hitotsubashi is pretty elite." Hayato commented. Ryu nodded. He wanted elite. He wanted to use all the tools at his disposal to succeed, except his family's position. This had to be something he earned for himself. He'd thought long and hard before deciding on this path. He didn't intend to do it half-way. "Do you want someone nearby when you confess? I can take you to the hospital afterwards."

Hayato said it with a smirk, but Ryu grimaced. Imaging her accepting his confession easily – or having been waiting for it – was beyond Ryu's powers of imagination. He figured her reaction was going to be bad and wanted to confess in private, but getting punched by Yamaguchi was, unfortunately, not out of the question. Hopefully she'd only punch him once. He sighed. What kind of guys fall for a woman who's likely to punch them for confessing? But since Hayato was in the same position…

"I'll call if I can't walk," he replied. "And make the same offer to you when you need it."

"Fair enough," Hayato accepted. "Does your dad know about Hitotsubashi?"

Ryu nodded. "He's not crazy about me defending delinquents and yakuza, but going to Hitotsubashi makes him happy. I figure he's expecting me to change my mind later."

Hayato snorted. "He hasn't noticed that you don't change your mind?"

Ryu shrugged. "I've told him what I'm doing, but he can think what he likes." There was a pause. "I'm making my move on her now that I've been accepted. Be careful you don't fall too far behind."

"Well, I'll wish you luck with Yamaguchi." Hayato met Ryu's eyes, looking more like himself. Ryu grimaced. Unfortunately he was pretty sure he'd need the luck.

"You too, Hayato." Ryu got back up. "Did you want a drink?"


	4. Chapter 4

It took the rest of the week for someone to find the real culprit. With his work he wasn't able to help with the search as much as he had intended, but was glad to hear from Kumai-san that one of Yamaguchi's new students eventually found him.

That was what brought him to Yamaguchi's house the following Saturday. He was welcomed in by a smiling Tetsu and Minoru.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Kyo-san is getting out of the slammer today." Tetsu replied. "He's been in for three years, so everyone is really excited to see him."

"Ah." Ryu wondered who this Kyo-san was, but his thoughts were interrupted when Yamaguchi walked in the room.

"Odagiri!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Why was that always her greeting? "I heard you found the culprit." He hedged, and was rewarded with a glowing smile.

"Hai! Ogata found him! I'm really happy. I can feel the students really coming together now." She paused. "Well, Ogata and Kazama are still fighting all the time… but it's much better." She smiled brightly at him. Fighting all the time was better? Not that he and Hayato didn't fight – hell, Yamaguchi had waltzed right into their biggest fight ever – but he really couldn't see how having these fighting was a good thing. Sometimes a guy couldn't help but wonder if Yamaguchi was slightly delirious.

Just then there was a commotion at the door. "Ojou!" A very imposing man with a large scar running down his face exclaimed, walking towards her. Kyo-san, one would imagine. She smiled warmly at him and Ryu felt a slight twinge. He wasn't jealous, of course. He knew that she was single, and had an unrequited crush on Kujo-sensei, but there was obviously a lot of love between these two.

"Okaeri! (Welcome home!)" She replied, which made Ryu twitch. "I've missed you."

"Ojou! To be welcomed home/back with such kindness!" The man began tearing up. Ryu stared. Just then Kuroda-san came in.

"Sandaime! (Third Leader!)" Kyo-san exclaimed, bowing deeply. "Please forgive me for my long absence."

"Touzen. (Of course.)" Kuroda-san replied with a smile. "Okaeri."

And all of a sudden they remembered that Ryu was in the room. "Who's this?" Kyo-san asked.

"Ah!" Yamaguchi exclaimed. "This is my former student, Odagiri Ryu." The introduction made him cringe, but he did his best to mask it.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. (Please look after me.)" They nodded to each other and then Kyo-san looked back to Yamaguchi. "I heard you became a teacher. Omedetou gozaimasu! (Congratulations!)"

"Arigatou, (Thank you,) Kyo-san." She replied grinning.

"Well," Kuroda-san said, "why don't we begin the celebrations?"

Everyone enthusiastically agreed, and Ryu found himself somehow dragged along. It didn't take long for the whole household to end up at the table, chatting away. He was seated next to Yamaguchi, which suited him just fine. If he was going to spend his day off celebrating the return of a guy he had never met before, he intended to be beside Yamaguchi for it.

"So who is this?" He murmured to Yamaguchi.

"Ah! Kyo-san was entrusted with my care when I first came here. He's like a father to me." Which made Ryu relax until she added, "he taught me how to fight."

Ryu fought not to gape. That man was the one who had trained her? How strong was _he_? Ryu had to admit that it had never really occurred to him to wonder who had trained her. Once he knew about her family, it just made sense that she was strong.

After dinner Ryu pulled Yamaguchi aside. They were standing in the courtyard, admiring the garden in the light spilling out from the house.

"Odagiri? Is something wrong?" She looked at him with those clear, trusting eyes. He had no idea how, after everything he had put her through she still trusted him, but he knew he would do anything at all to be worthy of it.

Ryu sighed. He hated talking. He was happy to let Hayato and Yamaguchi do most of the talking, but here he was determined to talk seriously with Yamaguchi. This wasn't the right time or place for his confession, but he needed to let her know that something was wrong with Hayato.

"I'm fine," he hesitated and forced himself to continue, "but Hayato isn't." Yamaguchi's face immediately clouded with concern. "You know that we haven't forgiven ourselves for getting you fired-" She opened her mouth (no doubt to protest) and he held up a hand to stop her. "No, let me continue." She nodded reluctantly. "None of us have forgiven ourselves for what happened, Yamaguchi. I don't know if we'll ever be able to forgive ourselves. But Hayato… He looks bad, Yamaguchi. I've never seen him like this. He needs you." She looked sorrowful.

"It really wasn't your guys' fault." She said quietly. "When Kuma called that there was trouble, Kyoto was here, at my house, warning me that the Superintendent was determined to fire me since he knew about my background. If it hadn't been that it would have been something else, Odagiri." Some of the tension left Ryu; he hadn't known that. "I had only been hired until March in the first place. I don't have any regrets about what happened, except that I know it hurt my precious students."

"That doesn't mean we don't. Tell Hayato what you just old me Yamaguchi. He needs to hear that from you." She glanced at him and nodded. "He and I were talking the other night, Yamaguchi… I don't know what else you can do for him, but I think you're the only one who can help him right now."

"I knew you guys were still upset about me being fired. I've been getting so many visits that I've been considering setting up a guest room so you guys can simply move in! Everyone in the class has come by at least once to check on me." She smiled a little sadly, reminiscing. "You guys, however, are extreme! Some days Yabuki comes by twice in _one_ day!"

She sounded so outraged by that, that Ryu found himself laughing. He had known that Hayato was visiting often, but he hadn't realized it was quite _that_ often. How she had failed to notice Hayato's feelings for her in the face of such attention was beyond Ryu, but Yamaguchi was special in a lot of ways.

"Just talk to him, Yamaguchi."

"Still worrying about your friends, Odagiri?" She said proudly, once again reaching out the ruffle his hair. He leaned away, avoiding her. Before he could answer, Minoru walked in.

"Ah! Ojou! Kyo-san was hoping you could sing for him."

"I'll talk to Yabuki, Odagiri. Thank you for telling me."

"Ojou?" Minoru repeated.

"Coming!" She replied, grabbing Ryu's hand and dragging him back into the festivities. Ryu was certain she hadn't noticed that she was holding his hand, and felt no need to point it out. Ryu learned that singing was not one of Yamaguchi's skills, despite the fact that the men of her household found her performance tear-jerking.

Several dozen people stopped in to welcome Kyo-san back, and pay their respects to Kuroda-san and Yamaguchi. Some arrived alone while others were clearly couples. Formal greetings were exchanged, and the evening flowed between what was clearly official, and moments that were just family. Watching Yamaguchi surrounded by the gumi was a revelation for Ryu. Here she was Ojou, honoured and admired, unchallenged by high school brats with something to prove. It was easy to see where her leadership qualities had come from, and her ability to give impromptu speeches. The thing that was most amazing to Ryu was that she had deliberately left this to go teach a pile of high school brats who didn't have anything nice to say to her. Why? She was treasured here, while she was barely tolerated at school. Well, that changed, but no one was ever as polite or considerate with her there as they were here.

A lot of the guests gave Ryu speculative looks, noticing his position beside Yamaguchi. He hadn't thought the seating all that important, beyond wanting to stay with Yamaguchi, but clearly others read the situation differently. A number of them stepped forward to be introduced. Ryu found himself staying late into the night, enjoying the comradery. By the end of the evening, Ryu had made his two-part resolution.

Another day with Yamaguchi that did not go as planned, he thought with a slight smile, but he was pleased that they were so willing to include him in their celebration. If the men in her family were willing to treat him like a man instead of a child, he might have a better chance of getting her to treat him like one as well. He headed home content.


	5. Chapter 6

Ryu waited until he was sure Yamaguchi had left for school on Monday, before returning to her house. He didn't want her to be here for this.

"Ojamashimasu (Sorry for intruding)!" He called out, stepping in. Tetsu came into the genkan (foyer).

"Odagiri?" He asked. "Ojou just left for school."

Ryu nodded. "I was hoping to speak to Kuroda-san and Kyo-san."

Tetsu frowned, but ushered him in. "Sit down. I'll go get them."

A few minutes later the door slid open and Kuroda-san walked in, followed by Kyo-san. They took a minute to seat themselves. The atmosphere was awkward, and Ryu took a breath before bowing deeply.

"Please forgive my intrusion," he began. Kuroda-san nodded. "I have come here for two reasons." He clenched his fists, and took another deep breath. He knew he wasn't good at expressing his feelings, but as Yamaguchi had said in the past, no one would know if he didn't try. He'd expected this to be hard, but facing them was tougher than he had anticipated. "I'd like your permission to date Yamaguchi."

Kuroda-san raised his eyebrows and examined Ryu even more intensely.

"What?!" Kyo-san leapt up. "You think you're worthy of our Ojou?!"

"Kyo." Kuroda-san hadn't moved, but his voice was sharp. "She doesn't know about this, does she?"

Ryu shook his head. "No."

"What is the second thing?"

Ryu turned to Kyo-san who was once again seated. "Please teach me how to fight."

"Why you brat-" Kyo-san began, raising himself up. Ryu refused to move.

"I want to be able to protect her." Ryu pushed on. "Right now I'm just a liability to her in a fight. Yamaguchi has told us that a man's strength is determined by his ability to protect the things he cherishes. I've been accepted as a law student at Hitotsubashi. I want to be able to protect her in a fight and in a courtroom. I want to be a man she can depend on." He bowed again. "I beg you!"

"You have your work cut out for you." Kuroda-san finally smiled.

Ryu released the breath he had been holding and smiled back. "I know."

"Since you are clearly very serious about this, there are a couple of things you should know." Kuroda-san paused, obviously choosing his words carefully. "Although Kumiko is a teacher, it is understood that whoever she marries will become the Yondaime." Ryu felt his eyebrows shoot up. It seemed a little premature to talk about marriage when he hadn't even confessed (to her), but since it was a much better reaction than immediately killing him he simply nodded. "There are some men who like Yamaguchi-sensei, and some who like Ojou, but the man she marries has to be able to accept both parts of her life, since they are both very important to her."

"I know." Ryu nodded again, then added, "I hate watching her with Kujo-sensei. She's always trying to hide who she is. She tries to be cute and feminine when her real self is all about passion and strength. Although she still acts like a kid sometimes."

"You do know Kumiko." Kuroda-san chuckled and Ryu found himself smiling back.

"What else?" Ryu wanted to know.

"Ah." Kuroda-san paused. "We arranged, when Kumiko was young, for her to be engaged the son of one of the other families." Ryu fought to contain his surprise. She had been _engaged_? "Without a successor, there was some instability in the gumi, so we thought of this as a solution." Kuroda-san looked weary for the first time since Ryu had met him. "That was a severe mistake on our part, but it's up to Kumiko to tell you what happened. You need to be aware that she has some very deep scars from that."

Ryu nodded. "I can accept that."

Kyo-san finally relaxed. "I'll teach you." And then he grinned fiercely. "Prepare yourself!"


	6. Chapter 7

Ryu was on the way back from his meeting with Kuroda-san and Kyo-san when Take called.

"Yo," Ryu answered.

"What's up?" Take asked. Given what he'd done with his day – get permission from a yakuza boss to date his granddaughter and sign up for fighting lessons that would surely leave him battered - Ryu wasn't really interested in answering the question. After a moment of silence, Take seemed to realize that. "Want to hang out?"

Ryu shrugged. "Sure. You're off today too?"

"Hai. Class was cancelled. I'll meet you at the park."

It only took Ryu a few minutes to get to the park; it wasn't really out of his way. Somehow Take had beaten him there regardless; he had a bench to himself. Ryu took a seat beside him without saying a word.

"So, you haven't confessed to Yankumi yet?" Ryu jerked. He knew his friends couldn't resist getting into each other's business, but getting this from Hayato and Take, as well as Yamaguchi's family seemed a little extreme. Besides, he had always been good at hiding his feelings. What had happened? "I dropped by yesterday and she seemed pretty normal. Well, for her." The last was said with a smile.

Ryu glanced over. "You were checking up on her?"

Take chuckled. "Ryu, I'm not in love with her, but she's important to me. I stop by a few times a week." Ryu stared. No wonder Yamaguchi felt that they were overprotective. "So? You planning on keeping our Yankumi out of trouble?"

Ryu snorted. "I don't think anyone can keep her out of trouble. And that wouldn't be interesting. I just intend to help her when she is in trouble." He hesitated then spilled. "I got permission from Kuroda-san to pursue her and the man who taught her to fight has agreed to teach me."

"You got permission – Wait! You're going to learn how to fight from _Yankumi's_ teacher?!" Take was clearly stunned. Ryu merely nodded. "Hayato needs to sort himself out otherwise you won't have any competition." Had everyone gotten more observant lately? Or was it that obvious? Take looked at him and laughed. "Sorry. Sorry." He apologized, still laughing. "But seriously, Ryu, watching her drag you and Hayato around while totally clueless about your feelings for her was one of the most interesting things I've ever seen."

They sat in silence a few minutes. "When did you know?" Take glanced over.

"Ryu. For my sake, you got into a huge fight with Hayato, got thrown out of school… you probably had a big fight with your dad, didn't you? But when I was fighting for Maki-chan and Yankumi told you not to interfere, you didn't. Do you think anyone else could have stopped you? Doesn't that make it obvious?" Ryu grimaced. Take had noticed _way_ before he had. Not that he intended to admit that. "Well, I had suspected for a while before that, but…"

"How did you know about her stopping us? And it wasn't just me." Ryu felt he had to clarify that. Hayato had been running towards the fight as well. Take had definitely been too preoccupied fighting at the time to notice them.

"I asked Tsuchi how you guys found us. He told me what had happened."

"So, how are things going with Maki-chan?" This was, in Ryu's opinion, a much better topic.

Take laughed. "Good. And I'll let you change the topic for now."

Listening to Take, still so happy with Maki-chan almost a full year later, Ryu felt himself longing for that kind of relationship with Yamaguchi. Well, dating her wouldn't be a smooth ride, but it would definitely be worth it. The afternoon was quiet one for them; they stopped in a couple of arcades, and checked out a candy shop that had just opened. Ryu would die before admitting that he loved chocolate, but Take had never teased him about it, so going in with Take was alright.


	7. Chapter 8

"Ohaio!" Hayato called out, stepping into the genkan. An unfamiliar man with a scar across his face stepped into the room. Over the past year, Hayato had become a very regular visitor to the Oedo family; it therefore came as a surprise to be challenged at the door.

"Who are you?" The man asked aggressively.

"I'm Yabuki Hayato." Hayato replied. "You must be Kyo-san. I heard about you from Ryu. He said you agreed to teach him how to fight."

"You know him?" Did Kyo-san always sound menacing, or was it just Hayato's luck that he caught him in a bad mood?

"We're friends." Hayato kept his tone neutral.

"So you're one of Ojou's students."

"Hai. I _was_." Hayato made a point of emphasising the past tense. "I wanted to talk to you and Kuroda-san, if you're both available."

"So, what do you want?"

"Kyo." Kuroda-san called out, before Hayato had to decide whether he was willing to state his business in the genkan. "Let him in." The three of them started the kettle and sat around the table. "So, what can we do for you, Yabuki?"

"I intend to pursue Yamaguchi." He stated, meeting their eyes. "I love her and I don't intend to give up. I'm applying to become a teacher." He took a breath. "I know Ryu has already spoken to you. I know I'll be competing against him, and I know him becoming a lawyer is really impressive, but I'm totally devoted to her. I won't loose in that regard."

Kuroda-san was examining him carefully. "What else?" Hayato turned his attention to the other man.

"Kyo-san, please teach me how to fight!"

"What! You-"

"We couldn't protect her last year. I can't tell you how much it hurt, to watch the woman I love get fired for something we did. We were so helpless! I don't ever want to feel like that again." He bowed his head. "Please teach me how to fight!"

"Why a teacher?" Kuroda-san asked. Alright, not the question he had been expecting, but…

"I'm not as smart as Ryu," Hayato said, "but if I'm a teacher, I can be with her all the time. I'll know what's going on with her class and I'll be there to support her when everyone else is telling her to give up on her students. I might be able to help prevent her from getting fired in the future, or help keep this-" Hayato waved his arm, "a secret. There are a lot of things I will only be able to do for her as a teacher. That's why please!" Hayato bowed again.

"Did Odagiri tell you about the succession?" Kuroda-san questioned. Hayato shook his head, puzzled.

"Whoever marries Kumiko will be the Yondaime (Fourth Leader)." Hayato stared.

"Umm…" Was there a right response to that? What had Ryu said?

"Also…" Kuroda-san sighed. "Because we had no clear line of succession, Kumiko was engaged to the son of another gumi in the past." Hayato knew he was gaping. "That was a very painful experience for her. If you and Odagiri start courting her as a woman, you're going to find some very deep scars."

Hayato felt his temper snap at the words unsaid. "Did he hurt her?!" He was leaning across the table, as if he wasn't facing down the Oedo Family Sandaime and one of his top agents. "I won't forgive him!"

Kuroda-san leaned back, looking relieved. "It's up to Kumiko to decide who she wants to tell. Who she marries will also be Kumiko's decision. We have decided to entrust the fate of the gumi to her judgement." Kuroda-san announced. Hayato nodded sharply. He wanted to know more about the engagement, but knew he wasn't going to get any more information from Kuroda-san.

"She's a good judge of character." Hayato commented. "And she makes you want to be the person she thinks you are."

"Well," Kyo-san began, seemingly having calmed down, "I guess I can teach you too. It'll be good for me after getting out of the slammer. I can't blame you guys for falling in love with our Ojou. She has no equal." The man clearly worshiped Yamaguchi. It would be smart to get to know him better.

"Thank you very much!" Hayato said, bowing again. He'd never done so much bowing – or any really – before meeting Yamaguchi. Then again, he hadn't had nearly as much to bow for.


	8. Chapter 9

It seemed that Hayato was right. Several days later Ryu's morning started with another call.

"Yo."

"Hayato? Why are you calling? It's damn early."

"I was just at her place. Her grandfather told me that she has a fever, but is determined to go to school anyways."

"Ah." Interesting how observant Hayato was when it came to Yamaguchi. "So what are you thinking?"

"I'm going to call everyone and have them keep an eye out. If it looks like anyone from her class is getting into trouble, we need to get anyone who can make it there to help her." For a Hayato plan, it wasn't that crazy.

"Text them. It'll be faster and you won't disturb them." Ryu paused, considering. "Remember to include Kumai-san. He's always out delivering, so he has a better chance of spotting anything."Hayato laughed.

"How often did he call her because of something we did last year? So now we reverse it?" Ryu smiled.

"Touzen."


	9. Chapter 10

Ryu was taking a particularly late lunch break at the construction site when the text came in. It was almost inevitable that on the one day Yamaguchi was sick her entire class would get into trouble. They had been spotted running in large groups. Murayama had followed them to an empty warehouse where they seemed to be facing off with some Aoshiba students. Yamaguchi hadn't arrived yet, but it was impossible to doubt that she was on her way. The situation seemed odd (why Aoshiba?), but that wasn't really any of Ryu's business. Ryu read the location and did some bowing and begging to be given an extended lunch break.

Task accomplished, he immediately ditched his lunch and ran for the warehouse. Thankfully construction was a demanding job, and he had only gotten stronger since graduation. Ryu could still feel the bruises Kyo-san had left on him, but he was no stranger to bruises and remembering _why_ he had these bruises helped speed his steps. He made it to the warehouse in record time. His breath caught in his throat as an Aoshiba student swung a metal pipe at Yamaguchi. He wasn't going to make it.

Yamaguchi caught the pipe in one hand (which really shouldn't have surprised him) and walked forward. Why should a fever slow her down? Nothing else seemed to. Anyone familiar with her would have realized she was _pissed_. Ryu had no idea what those Aoshiba students had done to make her that angry, but the metal pipes on the floor didn't seem a good sign.

"Get your hands off Yankumi!" Take shouted, running forward.

There were yells of agreement as Tsuchi, Hyuuga, Murayama and a couple of the guys came charging out. It seemed that Ryu had used a different entrance than the rest of them since they were on the opposite side of the warehouse. Yamaguchi stared at them, stunned. Figuring he'd might as well join in, he strolled up slightly behind Yamaguchi, smirking at her expression. The rest of the guys had run between Yamaguchi and the Aoshiba students.

"Omira (You guys)!" Yamaguchi's reaction to their sudden appearance was, of course, delayed.

"Yo." Tsuchi said, glancing back at her with a smile.

"What are you doing?!"

"We heard you had a fever." Hyuuga answered.

"I'd just let that guy go, if I were you." Tsuchi advised the Aoshiba students.

"Chotto matte (Wait a moment)! I haven't-"

"Convinced them not to do whatever it is they did that pissed you off so badly?" Hyuuga finished.

"Omira! What a way to speak to your beloved-" She stepped forward and Ryu grabbed her by the back of her collar. She looked over her shoulder, surprised.

"Odagiri! Nani (What)-"

"You're sick. No fighting."

"Demo (But)-"

"We'll get your student back. Yaksoku (Promise)." She stared at him blankly. Choosing to take this opportunity, Ryu looked at the Aoshiba students. "We're going to take back that guy you guys have been beating on, since he's clearly one of her students. Hurting one of her students is a sure way to piss her off, so it's best if you hand him back and run away."

"Who are you guys?" The leader of the Aoshiba group asked. Ryu didn't think he was very impressive, trying to sound aggressive while sprawled on the floor. The guys laughed.

"We're her former students." Hyuuga replied.

"Men protect the things that are important to them." Tsuchi added. "Ganging up on one guy is pretty pathetic. Don't you know that real strength is the ability to protect what's important to you?"

"Omira-" Yamaguchi tried again.

"We've got your speech memorized, Yankumi. Just stay there and be good. Ryu, she's your problem." Take cut her off.

"Problem!" She exclaimed, outraged.

"Hai." Ryu replied, not letting go of her jacket.

"Odagiri!" She tried to turn towards him, but since she wasn't willing to fight him, didn't get loose.

"What are they teaching you at that elite school?" Hyuuga questioned disdainfully. The Aoshiba students gaped.

"Fighting is done one on one barehanded." Take added. "Seven people with pipes against one opponent? That's just violence."

"They're the ones responsible for the recent attacks." One of Yamaguchi's current students commented. Ryu flicked a look back at him.

"No wonder you're so mad." Ryu remarked, glancing at Yamaguchi. He noticed a number of students clearly injured. "Are those injuries gifts from these guys?" Her students nodded. "Wow. Could you guys get any lower?"

"Men take responsibility for their actions." Take added. "If you guys can't even do that, you're only kozo (brats)."

Yamaguchi sighed, and Ryu let go of her. She had finally calmed down. "Tsuchiya. Takeda. Hyuuga." She called out quietly. They glanced back at her and stepped aside. "People who don't understand people's feelings or pain have no place judging others." She spoke softly as if she hadn't been about to thrash them. "You guys can start over, too." She said, addressing the Aoshiba students. They didn't seem to have any fight left in them. After a moment, they backed up and fled.

The tension drained from the room with their departure. Her students were watching them, and, Ryu noted, him in particular, obviously unsure of what had just happened. After a moment they rushed forwards to help the guy on the ground. Once he was supported between two friends, the focus shifted back to Ryu and the others.

"What are you guys doing here?" Yamaguchi asked, looking at them.

"We heard you were sick." Tsuchi explained.

"You heard… Yabuki!" Her expression was outraged. They all laughed. Take sidled up to her and pulled out his phone. Her expression grew more and more appalled as she read. Ryu had to turn away to hide his smile. "He! You!" Apparently words were beyond her.

"He was worried Yankumi." Take said with that gentle smile of his.

Ryu shifted back and put his hand to her forehead. She turned to stare at him. "Baka. Don't move." He frowned at her. "You're burning up. You should be in bed."

"I'm-" Could she not protest for once?

"Going home." Ryu cut off. "You need to sleep." His classmates were chuckling, while the new guys were staring.

"What would you do without us, Yankumi?" Murayama called out.

"Can't you stay out of trouble at least when you're sick?" They teased her gently.

"Demo-"

"These guys are going to be good for the rest of the day, right?" Ryu glanced at the new 3D students, then back at her. "This is a great opportunity for them to stay in the class and set up some traps for you to enjoy tomorrow."

"That's not-"

"If you stay with them, you'll probably end up making your students sick." Alright, so it was a cheap shot, but it was true and Ryu intended to get her home.

"Demo I-"

"Will feel terrible if any of your students get sick because of you."

"Hai, demo-"

"Yosh (Alright)." Why did the woman have to argue while agreeing with him? Who did that? Ryu decided that ignoring her was less work than arguing with her, so he grabbed her arm and started pulling her along. "I'll take responsibility for getting her home." He promised the other guys. "You guys head back to work." He shifted his gaze to her new students. "You guys head back to class." He all but dragged her out of the warehouse, still ignoring her. "If you aren't well enough to actually argue, you aren't well enough to teach class." And that settled the matter as far as he was concerned.


	10. Chapter 11

Once that guy had hauled Yamaguchi out, Ren felt the last of the tension leave the room.

"He's really good with her, isn't he?" The guy in the patterned shirt murmured thoughtfully.

"For someone with no social skills." The tall guy with the fan replied. The guys who had charged in chuckled at the remark. "Yo." He pointed his fan at Ichi. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine." Ichi answered, wincing. Ren and Yamato were carefully supporting him.

"You guys were her students?" Ren asked, watching them.

"Last year." It was the guy in the patterned shirt who replied.

"We're your Yankumi senpai." The guy who had run in first added with a grin. "I'm Take."

"Tsuchi." The guy with the fan indicated.

"Hyuuga." The one in the patterned shirt nodded to them. The others stepped forward and introduced themselves, but seemed willing to let those three do most of the talking.

"Who was the one who got falsely accused?" Tsuchi asked. Ren was stunned. Why did these guys know about that? Why were they still in touch with their old teacher? Why did the come because she had a cold?

"I was." Ren raised his hand slightly.

"I'm glad you were found innocent." Tsuchi replied.

"Yankumi was _super_ angry about it." Take added.

"Seriously! We all ended up out on the streets looking for that tattooed guy." Wait. Ren couldn't believe his ears. _These_ guys had been out looking for that guy? Why?

"You guys were looking for the culprit?" Yamato voiced Ren's incredulous thoughts, looking just as shocked as Ren felt. Ren knew without turning that the whole class was agape.

"We owe Yankumi." Take said. "If she needs us, we'll be there."

"Treat her better than we did." Hyuuga warned.

"She lost her job because of us. Don't repeat our mistake. You'll never forgive yourselves." Tsuchi's tone was entirely serious.

"What happened?" Yamato questioned.

"They wanted us out. The director used Yankumi to get all of us through the year and then forced her to resign. He was threatening to expel the entire class for a fight the day before our graduation. She handed in her resignation in exchange for the director retracting our expulsion." Ren felt anger stir at that. Who would punish the only trustworthy teacher they had ever met?

"Why didn't you guys do anything about it?!" Yamato snapped. His anger had taken a different direction.

"We boycotted our own graduation." Tsuchi replied.

"But all that did was piss off Yankumi." Take explained.

"When Yankumi dragged us to the ceremony, Hayato ended up crying so hard you could barely understand him." Hyuuga remembered.

"I've known him since elementary, but I've never seen him cry like that." Take said quietly. Yamato's anger at them seemed to subside. What else could they have done? Clearly the memory burdened them.

"Who was that guy who led her away?" Kura asked, changing the topic.

"Odagiri Ryu." Take replied.

Honjo looked startled. "Wasn't Odagiri the name of the guy who ran Kurogin Gakuen last year?"

"Ryu and Hayato ran it." Hyuuga answered.

"Hayato had the social skills to run the class, but Ryu was the brains." Tsuchi assessed. Take and the others smiled at that.

"You guys are Kurogin's 3D class?" Yamato asked. Kurogin had changed, but their reputation last year had been quite fierce. These guys were the ones responsible? And now they were running after their old teacher because she had a fever?

"Hai. We were the 3-D class last year." Hyuuga was nonchalant about it.

"If she tries to do something crazy, call me." Take said stepping forward to offer his cell phone number.

"If?" Tsuchi laughed. "It's more like _when_."


	11. Chapter 12

The walk back to her place didn't take long, and Kuroda-san did not seem particularly surprised to see his granddaughter towed into the house. If Ryu didn't know better, he would assume that people regularly hauled her around.

"Ohaiyo." Ryu said, partially bowing. He would have bowed more deeply, but wasn't sure he could manage it without loosening his hold on Yamaguchi. "Please forgive my intrusion."

Kuroda-san seemed resigned and somewhat amused. "I take it Kumiko got into trouble today."

Ryu found himself smiling slightly while simultaneously wishing he had the right to call her that. "She got into a fight." Although she had quieted on the walk – or given up since he wasn't listening to her – this roused her.

"I didn't-"

"Grab a metal pipe barehanded while facing seven guys?" Ryu raised his brows, daring her to deny it.

"Well, that-" Again, she had no reply. Kuroda-san laughed at them. Ryu turned back to the elderly man.

"She needs to be tucked in. Her fever is quite high." Ryu informed him. Kuroda-san nodded.

"Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

Ryu nodded regretfully. While he would love to be the one to nurse her, he needed to get back to work if he wanted to keep his job.

"If you'll allow it, I'll stop by after work to check on her." She looked like she was going to choke on that, but Kuroda-san's laugh was full of understanding.

"We'll see you later, Odagiri-kun." And as far as Ryu was concerned, that settled it.

* * *

He was scolded by his boss; even with the extended lunch he had returned late. A lot of bowing and apologising later he was working, looking forward to the end of the day when he could check on Yamaguchi. A text from Hayato had arrived before Ryu even made it back to work. Hayato was, of course, aware of everything that had happened (Take had probably filled him in) and intended to visit Yamaguchi in the evening. After assuring Hayato that she was safely home, Ryu set his phone aside for the rest of his shift. Since he was looking forward to the evening, work seemed to crawl by. By the time he was packing up, offering another set of apologies, he was almost desperate to reach Yamaguchi's house.

Entering, he was totally unsurprised to find Hayato, Take, Tsuchi and Hyuuga all comfortably seated with the men of Yamaguchi's family. Ryu found himself ushered in, feeling as though he had arrived late to a meeting.

"She's asleep," Hayato quickly informed him, "but her fever is already going down." Well, admittedly, that covered the most important questions.

"Running after her students wouldn't have been good for her." Ryu murmured.

"I think she should stay home tomorrow." Tsuchi voted.

"How do you intend to get her to do that?" Hyuuga asked.

"Ryu used the don't-make-your-students-sick card to get her home." Take commented. "Could we use that again?" The five of them were discussing their options when Kuroda-san sat back and chuckled. They glanced at him.

"You guys really do take good care of my granddaughter. I'll continue to entrust her to your care. Please join us for dinner tonight." Everyone happily accepted the invitation. Dinner at Yamaguchi's house was always entertaining.


	12. Chapter 13

"Did anyone invite Yamaguchi?" Hayato asked, having arrived somewhat late and failed to spot her. Not that her being late was surprising, he was just curious if she had been included. The class had taken over their usual restaurant to celebrate. It was good to see everyone again. They had kept in touch, but hadn't gathered like this since their graduation.

"Take said he would bring her." Tsuchi replied.

"I can't believe we're including a senko (teacher) in a birthday party!" Hyuuga laughed. Hayato shook his head. Things had certainly changed over the past year; from bringing weapons to attack a teacher, to inviting one to a birthday party.

"If we didn't invite her, she'd just pop up anyways." Tsuchi said with a snort.

"Not a senko (teacher)." Ryu clarified. "Yamaguchi."

"She's more of a gaki (kid) than we are." Hayato added. Everyone laughed at that.

"What a thing to say about your beloved teacher!" Yamaguchi said, popping out of nowhere.

"Ah!" Everyone jumped.

"Don't do that!" Hyuuga complained.

"Stop popping out of nowhere!" They scolded. And then they paused. _What was she wearing?_ Hayato's jaw dropped. She was _breathtaking_. Her clothes _fit_. From the sleeveless white lace shirt, to the mid-thigh pencil skirt, they revealed a slight but beautiful figure that her tracksuits had always covered. Her hair was tumbling around her face in loose curls and she had burgundy lipstick and purple eye shadow on. Her glasses were gone, leaving her strong eyes unobstructed. Hayato was sure he had never seen anyone look so beautiful.

"What is it?" She seemed puzzled by the sudden silence.

"Isn't it amazing what a professional can do?" Take said smugly, walking in behind her.

"What?" She glanced at him. "Ah! The clothes! Takeda and I went shopping for some clothes last weekend." Ah, so that's what Take had been up to.

"I also styled your hair, and did the makeup." Alright, so Hayato had known that Take was going to a beauty school, but surely only a prodigy could have brought about this transformation!

"Hai." She tentatively raised a hand to her hair. "It feels very strange." Take batted her hand away.

"Stop that. You'll ruin it."

"Those are some great shoes." Tsuchiya commented. Hayato hadn't made it that far, but spotting the runners he couldn't help but laugh. Yamaguchi shifted uncomfortably, but the whole class was soon laughing. Hayato felt tears gather in his eyes. No matter how she dressed up, Yamaguchi was Yamaguchi. You could never completely hide her. The guys started teasing Take.

"Did you run out of energy before you got to the shoes?" Hyuuga asked.

"Does she have anything other than runners?"

"Was it hard getting her dressed up?"

"How did you do it?"

"What happened to her glasses?"

"I told her I needed to practice for my courses. Since I don't have any sisters, I needed her to co-operate." Take sounded justifiably smug. "I've been trying different hairstyles and makeup. This is the one I like best, so far." Hayato raised his eyebrows. Count on Take to realize that calling on her as a teacher would get her to cooperate for a total makeover. Having recovered (slightly) Hayato glanced at Ryu to see his reaction. Ryu dropped his gaze to the ground, screening his eyes from the others. Hayato had seen it, though; the hunger in his gaze.

When three of the guys leapt up and offered her their seats, she was entirely bemused. "What's going on?" Yeah, right. They might be stupid, but they weren't _that_ stupid. No one was going to answer that.

"Seriously, runners?" Hayato deflected. She sighed.

"I tried on some high heels, but I really can't run in them."

"We're at a birthday party Yankumi, you're not supposed to run." Take explained in a tone that made it clear this wasn't the first time they'd had this discussion.

"Why do you think you'll need to run?" Tsuchi asked. This time Yamaguchi was the one staring at them.

"I'm a 3D teacher again." They nodded, waiting for her to get to the point. "Do you have any idea how often you guys called me away from drinking parties with the other teachers, or…" She shook her head, obviously too overwhelmed by the memories to continue. They glanced around sheepishly. Between taking a job for Ryu, and chasing the rest of them around the city, they probably hadn't left her much time for a social life.

"So, what are your new students like?" Hyuuga wanted to know.

"I was having a really tough time with them at first," Yamaguchi confided, "but I think they're starting to warm up to me. We played kick-the-can the other day!" This was clearly a triumph.

"What made them so tough?" Hayato asked. They had threatened to beat her up when she arrived. What's a worse welcome than that?

"Ah! They were ignoring me. They weren't as simple as you guys."

"Who's simple?" Ryu inquired, raising a brow at her.

"Well," she paused, choosing her words, "you guys were reasonably cooperative from the start."

"EHH!?" _No one_ could agree with that assessment.

"By what standard?" Ryu was, like the rest of them, staring.

"Mine!" She said brightly. The guys stumbled.

The conversation drifted as Yamaguchi chatted with the guys, excited to see them doing well, compassionate with those who were struggling, and generally just getting into everyone's business. If anyone else had been so nosy, someone would have probably punched them, but Yamaguchi was so genuinely interested, that, as always, everyone found themselves answering. With everyone talking comfortably, Take wandered up to Hayato and Ryu.

"So?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Hayato looked at him; Ryu was still watching Yamaguchi. "She looks good, eh?"

"Betsu ni (Not particularly)." Was all Ryu had to say on the matter. Take just laughed, unbothered.

"And? Haya-to?"

"You're a tensai (genius), aren't you?" Take grinned at him.


	13. Chapter 14

Ryu and Hayato insisted on walking Yamaguchi home; Take had yielded the duty with a laugh. Take had been laughing too much this evening in Ryu's opinion. Of course, Take always spent a lot of time laughing, but showing up with Yamaguchi looking like that had done bad things for Ryu's heart. Instead of enjoying the evening, he'd spent his time fighting the urge to challenge everyone who looked at her. He knew Hayato was competition, but the rest of the guys had never treated her like a woman, and watching them tonight made him thankful for that. He could feel his temper simmering. He didn't have the right to do or say any of the things he wanted to. He'd have to do something about that soon if she was going to be going places looking like that.

The walk back to her place proved more interesting than Ryu had anticipated, and he was glad to be there for it. As they got closer to her home, more and more people called out to her as they passed.

"Why does everyone recognize you?" Hayato voiced Ryu's thoughts.

"This is our family's territory." Yamaguchi seemed bewildered by the question.

"All of this?" Hayato's surprise was clear. They greetings had been coming for quite a while. Ryu looked away, examining the shops more closely. "I thought your family was quite small?"

"Ah. Well. Kyo-san and Wakamatsu-san each have as much influence as an ordinary Oyasan(Boss), so…" She shrugged, as if she hadn't just told them that her seven person family had as much power as two average gumis. The information was relevant to anyone who was interested in her since Ryu already knew her future husband would run it. "Besides, a lot of people respect my Ojii-chan even if they aren't formally ours."

Ojou indeed.

"Ojou!" A woman came running up. "There's trouble!"

"Where?" Yamaguchi immediately switched into what Ryu called her 'yakuza mode'. With her hair tumbling down her back, there was no need to take out her pig tails before getting into a fight, and her contacts posed no danger.

"Yasue nee-san's." Clearly this was enough of an answer for Yamaguchi; she sped off, Ryu and Hayato right behind. Damn it, Ryu thought resignedly, the runners _had_ come in handy.

She ran into what was unmistakably a hostess club. Never having been in one, Ryu would have been interested in looking around under different circumstances. Not that he was interested in other women, but he'd spent enough time listening to his friends moan about being not old enough to get into one to be curious about what they were missing.

It was easy to spot the trouble. A man was shouting at a very pretty hostess, who obviously wasn't about to back down. As the man grabbed a bottle to swing at her, Yamaguchi caught his wrist.

"Don't you think this is a little much for a fight with a hostess?"

"Who are you?" The man yelled, visibly drunk. "Get off me!" How did she introduce herself when she wasn't defending her students? Ryu wondered. His friend charged at her, saving her from answering. In moments she had disabled them both.

"I think we need to go outside and discuss your drinking manners." She said coolly, hauling them behind her. Ryu had never seen this side of her. This wasn't the teacher giving lectures and telling people to reform. This was Ojou, punishing people who had broken her rules. She pulled the men into the back alley, gave them each half a dozen hard blows and warned them not to come back until they learned how to treat a lady. They were barely conscious, so Ryu didn't think that they would remember that, but they probably would remember enough to not come back.

"Ah!" She was visibly startled to turn around and find Ryu and Hayato watching her. She eyed them uncertainly and Ryu realized that she was waiting for them to judge her. Waiting for them to turn away from her. How many people who had known Yamaguchi had met Ojou and walked away? The question – and the vulnerable look on her face – made Ryu's heart ache. Had her fiancé been one?

"Don't look at us like that." Ryu said, holding her gaze. "We can accept you, Yamaguchi."

Hayato sighed. "Honestly, what did you think we'd do? You're our Yamaguchi." She teared up and she began rubbing her eyes. Ryu patted her shoulder. Instead of being repelled by the display, Ryu found himself fascinated to discover another side to her.

"You're going to ruin all of Take's work if you cry." Hayato said. She sniffed in reply. "It would be a pity; you almost looked like a girl." Her head shot up at his words.

"What do you mean almost! I am a girl! Honestly you guys-" And she was back; the vulnerable look erased.

"Do you do this all the time?" Hayato asked. She shook her hear.

"Yasue nee-san is Wakamatsu's wife." She replied. "Normally there would be people here to handle this sort of thing… I wonder where everyone went tonight?"

Ignoring the question, Ryu stepped towards her and placed his hand on her forehead. Inside she had to be Ojou, so if she had relapsed, he wanted to know before they went back in.

"Nani-"

"Does she have a fever?" Hayato interrupted. After a moment Ryu shook his head.

"She feels fine." Ryu replied.

"Let's get her home without any more trouble." Ryu nodded at Hayato's suggestion.

"I'm not-" She began.

"Yamaguchi. You were really sick yesterday. Getting into fights is great," Hayato repeated the phrase she had said to them so often, "but you need to look after yourself."

"Why don't we go in?" Ryu cut her off before she could protest. "We should make sure the hostess wasn't hurt."

"You need to wipe your eyes." Hayato added. "What are we going to tell your grandfather if we bring you back after you've been crying?"

Stepping back in, Yamaguchi was welcomed as a hero. The hostesses flocked to her, while the one who had been the center of the commotion hovered by the edge. Everyone clearly loved their Ojou. Ryu and Hayato stayed by her side, watching the interaction with interest. No one questioned who they were, or what they were doing there. Evidently the fact that they were with Yamaguchi was all anyone needed to know.

"Ojou." A middle aged woman walked through the group, guiding tonight's central player to Yamaguchi.

"Yasue nee-san." Yamaguchi tipped her head slightly.

"I'd like to introduce you to Sara-chan. I hired her last month. She's raising her brother all by herself."

"Sugai (Impressive)! Ganbaate (work hard)!"

"Thank you very much for this evening." Sara-san bowed deeply.

"No problem." Yamaguchi replied. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She bowed again. As a teacher, Yamaguchi would have been bowing back, but Ojou didn't bow.

"This is our Ojou, Yamaguchi Kumiko. She is Kuroda Ryuichiro's granddaughter and heir. She works as a teacher." Shifting her attention back to Yamaguchi, Yasue-san continued, "Did you want a drink?" Yamaguchi shook her head.

"These two are minors, so we should be heading out." She said, acknowledging them for the first time.

"Ah. We'll see you later then."

"Of course." Yamaguchi spoke casually. "Let's go, guys."


	14. Chapter 15

Hayato and Ryu we able to drop Yamaguchi off without any further excitement. Hayato felt that he had plenty to think about. The events at the hostess club had driven all thoughts of Take's brilliance away. In the year he had known her, he had only seen the edges of the Oedo family's Ojou. Tonight he had seen the casual way she dished out punishment to people who caused trouble in her territory. There were no warnings, and no second chances. What he really hadn't liked though was Yamaguchi's fragile expression when she had realized that they were watching.

"I wonder who hurt her?" Hayato was more thinking out loud than expecting an answer.

"You know…" Ryu said quietly, "despite how much she talks about friendship… have we ever met a friend of hers?" Hayato swung his head around. "You've spent more time at her place then I have."Ryu continued, meeting his eyes. "Did you meet any of her friends?"

"No." Hayato was horrified. "I've only ever seen her with her students, her family, or other teachers. No one from her own school days, or university." How could he have not realized that? They walked in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Kumai-san might know a little more about her." Ryu suggested. "He's known her longest."

Hayato glanced over. "I'm feeling a little hungry." Ryu merely nodded. They changed their route slightly and arrived at Kumai-san's restaurant a few minutes later.

"Omira!" Kumai-san greeted as they walked in.

"Is it too late for food?" Hayato asked.

"Not for you two. Just give me a minute." They nodded and sat down.

"Hai." It didn't take long for Kumai-san to bring out two pork ramen. "What's up?"

"Kumai-san. Have you ever met a friend of Yamaguchi's?" Hayato asked, grabbing his chopsticks.

"Eh?" Kumai-san rubbed his head. "You mean outside of other teachers or her family?" Ryu nodded, slurping his noodles. He was careful not to look too interested. It always cracked Hayato up when Ryu got like this. Every so often, when Ryu was really interested in something, he'd look away and ask about it. One of the funniest times was last Valentine's Day when Ryu had been _very_ interested in who Yamaguchi was giving chocolate to, and had asked her about it repeatedly. Listening to her talk about Kujo-sensei that time had ticked them both off, so they had left her their bills. Not very mature, but… Maybe it should have been obvious then that they liked her. "No I haven't." Kumai-san shook his head. "She told me once that she was really happy when we gave her the nickname Yankumi since the only nickname she had had before that was kumichou."

"Kumichou!" They repeated. Well, it fit, but…

"Why?" Kumai-san asked. They were spared answering because just then the door opened again and six high school guys walked in.

"Yo, Kumai-san. You mind if we grab something?"

"Omai-tachi (you guys!)" Kumai-san's relaxed reaction led Hayato to suspect that these were Yamaguchi's new students. The guys spotted Ryu and Hayato's suspicion was confirmed.

"You!" They exclaimed, pointing at Ryu. Introductions then had to be made, and tables pushed together to make room for everyone. Kumai-san disappeared into the back to get some more food.

"We heard you guys are getting ready for the sports festival?" Hayato asked, once the new guys were settled.

"Well, it's pretty late to be joining, but we thought we'd give it a shot." Ichi replied.

"Yankumi was super excited about it." Kura commented.

"It doesn't feel right not to try." Honjo explained.

"We were careful today when we were practicing not to wear her out." Kamiya assured them.

"Someone stayed close to her the whole time." Ren added.

"Man, I thought Yamaguchi was going to go crazy when she realized what we were doing." Yamato said with a laugh. That was pretty easy to imagine.

"Crazier you mean?" Hayato teased. The other guys laughed.

"It's next week, right?" Ryu asked.

Yamato nodded. "We're going to hang out over the weekend and practice."

"One day really isn't enough." Ren commented.

"I can't believe you guys are still in touch with Yankumi!" Kura exclaimed, shaking his head.

"We heard a little about what happened from Take." Ichi expanded.

"So she's got you calling her Yankumi?" Hayato chuckled.

"We just started yesterday." Honjo said.

"She was crazy happy about it though." Kamiya smiled.

"How's it going with Yamaguchi?" Ryu questioned.

"Hena (Weird) senko (teacher)." Was Kura's opinion. Hard to argue that.

Before anyone else could voice their opinions, Kumai-san came back in with a tray, followed by a very pretty young woman. The guys halted their conversation to stare. Not as striking as Yamaguchi had been tonight, or as the hostess, but definitely attractive. Who was she? The sudden silence drew Kumai-san's attention. He glanced at them, then seemed to realize why no one was paying him any attention.

"Ah! This is my fiancé, Ami." Kumai-san introduced. She bowed prettily.

"Nice to meet you."

Everyone bobbed their heads awkwardly in reply.

"Eh? You're engaged?" Hayato asked.

"Since when?" Yamato wanted to know.

"Does Yamaguchi know?" was Ryu's question.

"Wow, Kumai-san, you've got great taste in women!" Ren complimented.

"What's the secret?" Kura asked eagerly.

Kumai-san and Ami-chan shared a look and laughed.

"What can I say? It's 'cause I'm such a great guy."

Ami-chan laughed and touched his arm tenderly. "He saved me when I was in high school." She told them. "My boyfriend had run away when we were attacked and left me behind. Kumai-san ran in to save me even though I had refused to date him. I was very touched."

Kumai-san shrugged. "I loved you. I wasn't going to let you get hurt."

"Hai." She smiled lovingly.

"Eh! You lovebirds!" Honjo joked.

"That was the first time Yankumi called me a man. I was barely conscious and couldn't stand, but I felt ten feet tall. A compliment from Yankumi makes you feel amazing, eh?" Kumai-san shook his head remembering.

"Yeah." Hayato found himself agreeing. Ryu met his eyes with a smirk, but didn't demur. Hayato didn't ask the new students any questions about Yamaguchi because he didn't want them intruding into her personal life and learning things that could get her in trouble. He was fairly sure Yamaguchi would have mentioned it tonight if any of her new class had learned about her family. They seemed alright, but Hayato had no intention of inconveniencing her just to satisfy his curiosity. Since Kumai-san didn't know any more than they did, they'd have to try a different approach. Listening to the new students talk their adventures with Yamaguchi was entertaining, but Kumai-san had been closing when they came in, so they didn't stay long.


	15. Chapter 16

"I spoke to Kuroda-san and Kyo-san." Hayato began once they left. Ryu felt his lips twitch.

"And?" He felt Hayato glare at the side of his face.

"You could have warned me! Kyo-san challenged me at the door! And the succession!"

"You were clearly entering the house too casually." Ryu replied, not at all bothered by the thought of Hayato having to act more like a guest when he visited Yamaguchi. "And the succession wasn't for me to tell."

Hayato sighed. "Well. Kuroda-san said it was up to Yamaguchi to choose." He paused then added. "He said she had a bad experience in the past."

"He told me that as well." Ryu acknowledged. "I don't know any more about it though."

"Yet." Hayato corrected.

"Yet." Ryu agreed.


	16. Chapter 17

The guys were discussing ways to celebrate the end of the sports festival when a quiet voice interrupted them.

"That would be bad." Yamaguchi said, appearing out of nowhere, _again_.

"Oi, what are you doing here?" Yamato asked, jumping up.

"You would be playing right into Kyoto's hands." She explained, turning to face them. "Listen up. This is eliminate delinquency week and-"

"Ah!" Honjo shouted. "Why are you alright?"

"Did you happen to come through that door?" One of the guys pointed at the door that she _never_ used.

"That's right…"

"Ah!" Everyone cried out in frustration. Yamato shook his head, disappointed.

"Eh?" Yamaguchi asked. "Is there something over here?" She pointed at the door she _hadn't_ used. Just then the door slid open and a very beautiful woman became the victim of their prank. As the guys recoiled in dismay – playing a prank on Yamaguchi was one thing, but no one here wanted to embarrass a beautiful woman – Yamato could barely keep himself from laughing. Of all the people! The odds of anyone other than a teacher – and any teacher would have been alright – walking through that door were so small. The women's eyes met as the chalk dust settled.

"Ah!" They exclaimed together.

"You are-" The beauty began. Yamaguchi charged at her, threw an arm around her and yanked her out of the room. What was all that about?

The commotion woke Ren, and as he was listening to what had happened, including a lot of complaints about their terrible luck, Yamato kept an eye on the door. A couple minutes later the door reopened.

"Kazama!" Yamaguchi called out. "Your sister would like to speak with you!"

"Aneki!" He jumped back, looking horrified.

"Eh?!" The guys shouted in protest. "That beauty is your sister?!"

"Why did you drag her out of the room, Yamaguchi?" Yamato asked.

"Ano. Um. I needed to help her clean up!" Yamaguchi looked thrilled with this answer, despite the fact that anyone could tell she was lying. "Kazama. Let's go to the staff room to discuss things."

* * *

"What's up with your sister and Yamaguchi?" Yamato asked Ren while they were picking through their lunches.

"What do you mean?" Ren hardly glanced up. The class had been grilling him about his sister since he came back from their meeting.

"They clearly recognized each other this morning." Yamato explained.

"Eh?!" Ren looked appalled.

"Wow, Ren. If your sister and Yankumi team up you're in for a world of hurt!" Kura commented. Judging from Ren's expression, that was his opinion as well. Yamato, like everyone else, had been quite stunned by Kazama's sister's display of temper in the staff room. If she and Yamaguchi decided together on something… Well, no guy would want to have to deal with that.


	17. Chapter 18

"You went to a host club?" Ryu kept his voice quiet, but couldn't entirely hide his anger. "Why?!"

"Eh?" She asked, stepping back and looking confused. Ryu didn't often get angry anymore. "To find my student." Then she regained her usual demeanor. "Why? Are you jealous?" She nudged him in the ribs, teasingly. Ryu didn't feel like being teased. Yes he was jealous, but he had no intention of saying that.

"Guys like that live off baka like you." He replied instead.

"What do you mean 'baka,' Odagiri? Honestly-"

"What were you wearing?" He interrupted.

"Eh? Just my normal clothes. I think Ayukawa-sensei and Takano-sensei should have told me that you're supposed to dress up." She complained. Ryu released a sigh of relief. No one would have treated her as anything more than a customer if she hadn't dressed up. "Why are you angry?" She asked, puzzled.

"Because you're a baka." Before she could object, he continued. "So, what did you think?"

"Of?"

"The host club!" She truly was stupid.

"Well, I've been in host clubs we run, but I've never gone as a guest. And, really, I think he was ok."

"Ok? Dare (Who)?" That didn't sound good.

"My host." She replied. Damn it! This was exactly why… "I really didn't mean to push him that hard. I was just embarrassed."

Ryu stared at Yamaguchi. "You injured your host?"

"Well, he got up so I guess he was fine." And suddenly Ryu found himself laughing harder than he had in years. That's what you get for trying your wiles on Yamaguchi! He thought.

"Nani (What)? Odagiri?" She came over to check on him as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"Did you find your student?"

"Hai. He was doing dishes in the back, but since he had lied about his age, he was fired. Honestly, I have no idea why he is so determined to live on his own when he has such a wonderful sister." She shook her head. "You remember the hostess Sara-chan at Yasue-neesan's? That's his sister. Her name is Kaoruko-san."

Brother and sister both working in host clubs? How good looking was the family? He remembered the hostess as being particularly pretty… "Who is her brother?"

"Ah. Kaoruko-san is Kazama's one-san." Ryu searched his memory a second and pulled up the matching face. With looks like that, Ren wouldn't have been working in the back for long. "Honestly. Ayukawa-sensei and Takano-sensei totally forgot the objective. And then I found Yamato and the others hanging around there as well. What a night."

"So you're not going back?" Ryu was fine with that.

"Masaka! It was really embarrassing! He was thanking God for letting him meet an ideal woman like me… The only people who talk to me like that are the family and they're always talking about me as Ojou." She blushed. "It was kind of nice."

"No one says stuff like that unless they're being really well paid for it." Ryu told her instantly.

"Well, it was very expensive. I couldn't afford to go there often on a teacher's salary, even if I wanted to." Ryu relaxed. That was good.

* * *

"Well," Yamaguchi said Thursday morning, appearing out of nowhere. "I'm glad that all worked out."

"Stop doing that!" They complained. Ren glanced at her and nodded.

"Thanks."

"No problem!" She punched him in the shoulder. His breath hissed out in pain.

"It's good the school didn't find out about your host job." Ichi commented. Ren nodded.

"You can work things out from here." Kamiya contributed.

"You'll be supporting her in no time." Honjo said.

"You've definitely got to graduate now!" Kura cheered.

"I really like your sister." Yamaguchi beamed at Ren in a way that made him want to run, then said, to his dawning horror, "Kaoruko-san and I are meeting for lunch on Saturday."

The guys were staring after Yamaguchi. She went to begin class as if she hadn't just announced the end of Ren's life. Ren loved his sister. He, and everyone else in the class now, knew that. But the thought of Yamaguchi and aneki getting along left him ashen.

"My god, Ren." Yamato said quietly. "You're _screwed_."

He knew the room had fallen silent at her announcement, and could feel Yamato move to catch him in case he fainted. I'm not going to faint. Ren told himself. I've never fainted before, I _will not_ start now. But Ren wasn't sure he'd ever heard anything more frightening.


	18. Chapter 19

"Alright, we've got to do something about this." Hayato glanced anxiously at Ren who hadn't moved since Yamaguchi had announced her plans to them.

"Ren won't stand a chance." Kura whispered.

" _No one_ should have to deal with both of them." Honjo added.

"What about sabotaging their lunch?" Ichi asked.

"What do you mean?" Kamiya asked.

"What if we call Yankumi out just before they meet up?" Ichi tilted his head. "She'll definitely come if we say we're in trouble." They hadn't known their weird teacher long, but everyone knew she would drop everything to help them.

"That's only for this lunch, though. We can't do that every time they try to get together." Kamiya argued.

"Maybe if they have a really terrible lunch they won't want to get together again." Hayato suggested.

"Suge (Awesome)!" The others applauded. As they got down to the serious business of planning their pranks, Ren began to revive.

"You need to tell us when your sister leaves." Kura instructed.

"Follow her and we'll meet up with you." Honjo explained. Listening to the plan, Ren began looking a little more like himself.


	19. Chapter 20

Saturday came too quickly in Ren's opinion. He had set his alarm for ten, determined not to miss aneki's departure. He got dressed quickly so that he'd be ready when he heard her leave. Sitting in the darkness, he began playing games on his cell phone. Best to let her assume he had slept in, as usual. He didn't want to do anything to rouse her suspicions. He hadn't asked her about her lunch with Yamaguchi since he didn't want her to know that he knew about it.

The front door shutting had him leaping to his feet and hurrying after her. He had gotten too engrossed in his game and had almost hadn't heard it! Thankfully he didn't have to mention that to the guys. He texted them his location while waiting for his sister to cross at a light. It was about fifteen minutes later that his sister wandered into a café. Not spotting Yamaguchi, Ren hid where he could see the door and waited for the guys to catch up.

"So, what's going on?" Yamato asked as soon as they arrived.

"Where are they?" Kura asked, still panting from the run. Ren pointed across the street.

"I haven't seen Yamaguchi yet, but I couldn't go in to check for her or aneki would spot me."

"Shit!" Kamiya exclaimed. "Down!"

Everyone ducked. Where was…

"Thanks for the ride." A familiar voice said. The guys shifted so they could watch, six heads peering around the car parked in front of them. Ryu-senpai had just pulled up with Yamaguchi on a motorcycle, and the two were taking off their helmets. Ren thought that guy spent way too much time with Yamaguchi, but since he was following her on her day off, it was hard to comment.

"Betsu ni (It was nothing)." Ryu-senpai glanced around and the guys quickly pulled back/hid. "You sure chose somewhere far away."

"It's not too far from her place." Yamaguchi explained. "And it's best if it's not near my home." Before Ryu-senpai could comment – why didn't Yamaguchi want to meet near her home? – someone interrupted.

"Eh?!" The stranger exclaimed. "If it isn't Kumichou!" Yamaguchi and Ryu-senpai's heads whipped around. Ren found himself tensing up. He didn't like the sound of that voice. It had the same cruel, mocking tone that he had heard so often from bullies as a kid. That was the voice of someone who enjoyed hurting others.

"Suzuki-san." Yamaguchi's reply could have frozen water.

"What have you been up to, Kumichou? Any boyfriends try to kill you recently?" When Yamaguchi failed to reply, the man continued. "Ah, I forgot, it was your fiancé, wasn't it?"

"If you'll excuse me, Suzuki-san." Yamaguchi's voice was tight. "I'm meeting with someone and don't have time to visit."

"Eh? There are actually people who would socialize with trash like you? Ha ha. They must not know about your family."

"Who is this fucker?" Ryu-senpai asked coldly. Yamaguchi looked at him.

"Suzuki-san was my class-mate in junior high and high school."

"Who are _you_?" The man asked Ryu-senpai aggressively.

"I'm her boyfriend, now fuck off." Obviously Ryu-senpai's patience had run out. While Yamaguchi was staring at Ryu-senpai slack-jawed, he took her arm and hustled her away. Did he always drag her around like that? After a moment, the stranger walked off, seemingly frustrated that his fun had been spoiled. Ren pulled back and looked at the guys. He was sure he had the same stunned expression on his face that they did. Entirely forgetting the purpose of their journey, they silently headed for the nearest park.


	20. Chapter 21

"It was your fiancé?!" Ryu questioned angrily. "Those knife wounds are from _your fiancé_?!" It wasn't hard to connect the dots. When Kuroda-san had warned him that Yamaguchi's fiancé had left deep scars, Ryu hadn't realized that he meant physical ones. Of course, having your fiancé try to kill you would leave emotional scars as well.

"Urusai!" She snapped, flapping her arms to get him to quiet down. Ryu pulled her into an alley to continue the argument. People glanced at them as they walked past, but no one interfered.

"Answer the question!" What was it with this woman? Why did he always end up shouting at her?

"It's none of your business!" She yelled, getting angry herself.

"Yes it goddamn is!" There was no way he was backing down.

"NANDE (WHY)?!" She went toe-to-toe with him, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" He roared at her. Her eyes widened in shock. Shit, he hadn't meant to say that. A confession was supposed to be sweet and gentle, not something you yell in the woman's face while arguing in a smelly alley way, surrounded by garbage.

"Odagiri, you…" He sighed. All he could do was go forward.

"I love you."

"But that's…"

"Yamaguchi. We can talk about this later."

"I…"

"Don't answer now." Ryu said, not wanting to hear the answer. "You're already late for lunch with Kaoruko-san, right? I'll take you out for dinner tonight. We can talk then."

"Dinner? That…"

"You're late." Ryu spoke sharply. Her head snapped down and she checked her watch.

"Shit! Yabai (This is bad)!" She sprinted out the alley way.

"Six o'clock!" Ryu called out after her. "I'll pick you up!" She waved her hand to acknowledge that she'd heard. Ryu leaned against the wall. _What had he done?_


	21. Chapter 22

"What was that?" Honjo murmured. Ren was too overwhelmed to reply. "Did her fiancé really try to kill her?" Honjo's eyes filled with tears.

"Who would dare?" Kura asked. "Whoever he was, he'd never beat her in a fight."

"Not in a fair fight." Ichi corrected. "But what if she was sick or he had a hostage or something? I think she'd take a beating for us, if any of us were held hostage." The guys nodded. She might drive them crazy, but they believed in her.

"If that guy knew her from junior high and high school, doesn't that mean it happened when she was our age? Who is engaged in high school?" Yamato pointed out.

"Someone with a powerful family." Kamiya replied. They all looked at him. "What if she's an heiress?"

"Well, she's not normal, but she's always eating at Kumai-san's and her clothes are never very expensive." Ren commented. Having an older sister and little money for the last eight years, Ren had become _very_ aware of what women's clothes cost. "Besides, they way that man talked about her family, he really made it sound terrible."

"Is that why she didn't want to meet your sister near her place? To hide her family?" Yamato asked, glancing at Ren. Ren shook his head. Until he had heard about the fiancé, Ren had been wondering about that too. Aneki hadn't mentioned anything about Yamaguchi.

"Yeah." Ichi frowned. "I wonder where your sister and Yankumi met? It seemed like they knew each other when your sister came to school."

"I agree." Kamiya contributed. "I bet she knows about Yankumi and that's why Yankumi pulled her out of class. I think your sister knows Yankumi's secret!"

"Demo, what kind of woman hides the fact that she's an heiress?" Honjo asked. "Don't they normally want people to know?" Ren frowned. Her being an heiress didn't quite fit in his mind. What heiress hid the fact that she was an heiress, ate ramen all the time, walked to school, spoke like a yakuza and fought like a shinigami (death god)?

"What if her fiancé was after her money? Wouldn't she try to hide it if someone had tried to kill her for her money?" Honjo wondered.

"They weren't married, if that guy had the story right." Ichi replied. "The money wouldn't go to him until they were married."

"But if he tried to kill her, they obviously weren't in love." Kamiya reasoned.

"She might have been." Kura said. The guys looked at him. "She's a bit of an idiot, right? She sounded really upset talking about it, so maybe…" Ren felt his stomach clench. The thought of someone Yamaguchi loved trying to kill her left him sick.

"Kumichou. That's a hell of a nickname to give a little girl." Ren commented, shifting the focus slightly. "And that shit about her family? I've heard a lot of that kind of crap before. That asshole is a bully."

"I don't think I'll be able to tease her about not having a guy anymore." Yamato said quietly. Ren grimaced, thinking of all the times they had hounded her about it.

"Yeah. It's not funny anymore." Ren agreed. "But I can't believe Ryu-senpai pretended to be her boyfriend!"

* * *

"Take." Ryu's voice was strained. "Do you have time?" Keita's jaw dropped. In all the years they'd been friends, Keita couldn't remember Ryu _ever_ asking for his help. Keita had been studying, but he could do that later.

"I'll meet you." Keita replied quickly. "Where are you?"

"Right outside your door."

Keita sprinted to the door, still clutching the phone. Ryu was waiting outside and hadn't rung the bell? He'd walked all the way over on the off-chance Keita was free? Throwing open the door, Keita stared. Ryu looked _awful_.

"What's wrong?" Keita asked immediately, skipping all greetings.

"I really screwed up, Take." Ryu confided. "Can I come in?"

"Touzen." Keita motioned for Ryu to step in, and went to make tea. Tea was something his mom always made when someone was upset, and he found himself doing the same.

"So?" He asked, as gently as he could.

"I confessed to Yamaguchi, Take." Since Ryu had been planning on confessing, Keita couldn't see the disaster.

"Did she say no?"

"No, I… I told her not to answer. I'm taking her to dinner tonight." Since taking her to dinner was a lot like a date, that sounded like good news. How had Ryu ended up like this?

"I thought you intended to confess?"

"Yes, but… Not while shouting at her in an alley." Keita grimaced. Alright, not the most romantic confession ever, but watching his friend, Keita realized the confession wasn't really the problem, so what…

"Why were you yelling at her?" He watched his friend flinch.

"I… It's not her fault. I didn't mean to yell. I just…" Ryu covered his face with his hands and Keita knew his friend was crying. Ryu _never_ cried. He'd been mistaken for a girl a lot as a kid and had come to hate anything 'girly.' Keita grabbed Ryu's shoulders.

"Tell me." He spoke quietly, and as gently as he could. What had happened? Never having seen Ryu in such a state, Keita found it alarming. Ryu had cried when desperately pleading with his dad, and had shed tears when they got Yankumi fired, but those were the only two times Keita could think of since elementary.

"I can't." Ryu took a shuddering breath. "It's not mine to tell. I just had no idea…" Ryu met Keita's eyes. "I had no idea she been through something so awful. Wasn't her parents dying enough? Why…" Tears finally ran freely down Ryu's face. "He hurt her." Ryu rested his head against Keita's. "He really hurt her."

Who was 'he'?


	22. Chapter 23

Kaoruko didn't want to order anything until Ojou arrived, but after the waiter came around for the third time, she found herself nursing some soda. Of course, the moment she had the soda in front of her, Ojou arrived, a flustered whirlwind.

"I'm so sorry!" She said immediately, dropping into the seat across from Kaoruko.

"Please don't worry, Ojou."

"Ah! Please call me Yamaguchi." She corrected instantly. "Or Kumiko. I really can't have your brother find out."

"Of course, Yamaguchi-sensei. Forgive me."

"No. I'm the one imposing on you."

"Not at all. Thank you for helping with my brother," Kaoruko bowed from her seat, "and for helping me last weekend."

"Please don't worry. It's my job. I don't mind in the least."

"I gather you proved Ren innocent of those serial robberies a few weeks ago?" Kaoruko confirmed.

"Touzen! I'm always on my students' side." Yamaguchi-sensei smiled warmly.

"It seems I owe you many thanks." Kaoruko bowed again.

"No, not at all." Wondering how long they would keep this going, Kaoruko examined Yamaguchi-sensei carefully, looking for a more comfortable topic.

"Are you alright?"

"Eh?" She looked surprised.

"You look pale. Are you not feeling well?"

"Ah, no, that's… I ran into someone from high school and… Well, we've never been able to speak nicely to each other."

"Yes. It's hard to see people from the past, sometimes." Kaoruko agreed. Many of the people she had considered friends had left her when she was no longer 'fun,' working to support herself and her brother instead of going out with them.

"And…" Yamaguchi-sensei looked at her hesitantly.

"Hai?"

"Well, one of my former students just confessed to me." Kaoruko rubbed her mouth to hide her smile.

"What did you say?"

"Ah… He didn't want an answer. I don't think he meant to say anything." Kaoruko no longer felt nervous about her lunch with Ojou. In familiar territory, she settled back to listen.

"Why don't you tell me about him?"

"Eh?" Yamaguchi-sensei hesitated. "You don't think it's shocking to have a student confess to their teacher?"

"Not really. Are you going to tell me that none of your students have ever liked a teacher?"

"Well no. I mean, of course they have. But…"

"It's different when it's you?"

"Exactly!" Yamaguchi-sensei nodded her head vigorously.

"That doesn't seem fair, does it?" Yamaguchi-sensei frowned at her.

"What do you mean?"

"It's alright to like other teachers, but not to like you? What do you say to them when they tell you they like a teacher?" Yamaguchi-sensei shrugged.

"Nothing in particular. It's sweet to watch them fall in love. There's no harm in it."

"But it's different if they like you?"

"Well…"

"He isn't your student anymore, right?"

"Well no…"

"So, do you like him?"

"I've never…" Honestly, teachers! How could Yamaguchi-sensei teach all those hot guys and not feel _anything_? The woman wasn't dead! Sure they were a few years younger, but…

"Let yourself think of a student that way?"

"Hai…"

"But since he's not your student anymore, you can." Before Yamaguchi could object, Kaoruko continued. "Why don't you tell me about him? How did you meet?"

"I was assigned to his 3D class at Kurogin last year." Yamaguchi-sensei remembered. "His father and the school superintendent had come to the agreement that Odagiri could graduate from school without attending. I didn't like that. My little brother, Tetsu, was also told that he could graduate from junior high without attending… Well, I went to his graduation and beat the crap out of his teacher." Kaoruko chuckled and Yamaguchi-sensei met her eyes with a wry smile. "I don't think I've ever made Oji-chan so angry. I was really lucky that the teacher didn't report it to the cops. I don't think he wanted to admit that one high school girl had beaten him up."

"So?" Kaoruko prompted. "Odagiri-kun wasn't attending school?"

"No. He had gotten mixed up with a bad crowd." She sighed. "He told me that he owed them 300,000 yen. I took a part-time job as a construction worker to make the money for him." Kaoruko was moved. "It took a little while, but I handed him the money. He laughed at me." This was clearly a painful memory for Yamaguchi-sensei. "I can't tell you how hard I cried that night. But you know what? The very next morning he showed up and gave me back the money. Later that day he quit the group, and the day after that he returned to school."

"I know my brother has caused you a lot of trouble." Kaoruko said. "I hope he's never made you cry."

Yamaguchi-sensei shook his head. "I was _really_ disappointed when I first met him and lied about being home when the theft occurred, but when I confronted him the next day, he came clean and told me exactly what had happened."

"So, what does it take to make you cry?"

"What do you mean?"

"How often do your students make you cry?"

"How often?" Yamaguchi-sensei was entirely missing the point. Kaoruko felt a little bad for anyone who fell in love with such an oblivious woman.

"Have any other students made you cry?"

"Well, I cried when I quit my first 3D class… They were begging me to come back and I said some really terrible things to them. I didn't want them to feel guilty since I was quitting in order to protect them. Umm…" Yamaguchi-sensei frowned puzzled. "I always cry at their graduations. And I cried when you and Kazama worked things out."

"But those aren't the same, are they? Crying because you're lying to protect them, crying because you're going to miss them… With Odagiri-kun, he had the power to hurt you right from the start."

"Touzen, I…"

"He lied to you and disappointed you, but so did my brother. Other students have probably lied to you or disappointed you, too. You didn't cry like that over my brother. It seems to me that Odagiri-kun is special to you."

"Eh?" Yamaguchi-sensei looked at Kaoruko, astonished.

* * *

This is all I have for now. Let me know if I should continue it. Hope you're enjoying it!


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